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TUCSON, Arizona—After each of its many explosive offensive performances during the preseason and throughout much of Pac-12 Conference there was plenty of praise for how easily UCLA could score. But because the Bruins' opponents so often were able to do so just as easily it was hard to really buy them as a legitimate national title contender.
The whole "defense wins championships" thing and all.
But since losing consecutive games in late January in which it allowed a combined 180 points, UCLA has become a completely different team when without the ball. While still not a lockdown defensive unit the effort on that is much greater than earlier this season, leading to a seven-game win streak highlighted by wins over all three Pac-12 teams they'd fell to.